


nothing gold can stay

by BuiltUpWithCatsAndTeaToMatch



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dancing in the Rain, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Instagram Prompt, Kid Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Kid Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Kid Fic, Kid Logic | Logan Sanders, Kid Morality | Patton Sanders, Kid Thomas Sanders, Kinda, Prompt Challenge, Prompt Fill, Rain, Well - Freeform, and logan is the stars, kind of, more like they’re a bunch of young gods but yeah they’re smol, patton is the wind spirit/god, playing the rain, roman is the fire spirit/god, thomas is the only human, thomas sanders - Freeform, virgils a water spirit, well not really he’s more of a kind of water god but shhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22574329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuiltUpWithCatsAndTeaToMatch/pseuds/BuiltUpWithCatsAndTeaToMatch
Summary: “nature’s first green is gold,her hardest hue to hold.her early leaf’s a flower;but only so an hour.then leaf subsides to leaf.so eden sank to grief,so dawn goes down to day.nothing gold can stay”- nothing gold can stay ; robert frost
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil & Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton
Kudos: 21





	nothing gold can stay

He’s a dead man if he’s caught.

Its well after dark, the moon shining bright in the navy sky, which is covered in a splattered blanket of snowy, glowing stars. The wind blows soft and gentle, filling the cool air with an occasional chilly breeze. 

Tales of what lies around after dark echo in his ears, but he shakes his head, continuing his climb up the hill. He’s snuggled into an oversized, colourful hoodie. He cuddles himself into it, his small and scrawny body not yet used to the chill of night, though it isn’t as bad as it was the first night he came out.

Still, he knows nothing will attack him, at not right now. Even if they do, he knows, they won’t attack.

_He’s young, small and new to to the world around. An innocent soul without a hint of corruption as it absentmindedly wanders away from its busied parents._

_The forest around the village is huge, stretching for miles. Directly north to it is a large hill, though there’s a ledge at the top that juts out like a cliff. It points to Polaris like a compass. They call it Northstar’s Hill.  
_

_It said that some kind of spirit lies there. He doesn’t quite remember what, but it apparently protected the village as much as it destroyed what infuriated it.  
_

_Then again, all sorts of spirits and legends surrounded the village and the forest around it. From fairies to wendigo, the forest was foretold to be packed with all kinds of things of varying intentions._

_As a new one, he hasn’t heard the true gore of them all, or even half of the tales of what lies in wait, awaiting the right prey to catch and eat or torture. Whatever it seems to wish to do._

_All he knows is that it’s bad to be there late at night, but yet he still goes, caught by a song he nor hears nor sees, but feels in his chest, drawing him forwards like the pied piper._

_The noises of the party get quieter and quieter, fading into the distance as he walks, staring up at Northstar’s Hill in an almost trance-like state._

_That is, until he hears it._

_A growl, low and hungry, stepping out from the forest beside. He spins on his heel, eyes wide as he meets the glowing gaze of a large, dark wolf. It’s back arches upwards inhumanly, it’s front legs limb and nimble like arms. A long, spike-spine tail holds still, facing down as it bares golden, murderous canines. It’s yellow eyes seem to glow, narrowed down as it approaches the young human, a deep rumble sounding in its throat as it stares.  
_

_He stumbles back, gasping as it continues to go closer, seeming to smile as it pants, the ribs along its sides pushing out into vision with each hearty breath._

_He realizes he should scream all too late, and it leaps at him with claws out, mouth agape. Yet, nothing but a strangled squeak makes it out before the dog awkwardly falls, skidding to a halt in front of him._

_He stares down at it, eyes wide and fearful, full of unshed tears. Will it kill him? What’s it stalling for?_

_Yet, it scrambles up quick, pushing itself back, eyes wide with fear as it stares at him. It’s eyes flicker from him to something behind him, yet when it glances around to look, nothing’s there but the forest opposite to him._

_He turns back to the wolf, who has pushed itself at least five feet away from the small child. It pants, eyes still wide, though it seems to have calmed._

_**That’s probably not a good thing** , he cringes slightly, heart pounding._

_Yet, the wolf turns to look at him again, and he almost expects it to lunge again, but when it meets his eyes it seems like if it were human it would go pale with fear._

_It turns heel, spinning and running off with nothing but a loud, guttural howl._

_He glances around as it flees, searching for his saviour, but there’s no one there._

_Guess there’s one thing true about Northstar’s Hill._

He makes it over the top, panting from the exertion still. He glances around, searching for his friends. He cranes his head at the stars, at the water, and at the air around. Still, it’s empty.

He sighs, pulling at the thick leather bind of a worn ukulele strung around his back. He tugs it off, letting the bind fall as he holds the small, colourfully painted instrument, prepping to play.

He poises his fingers over the frets, taking a deep breath, when something pats against his ukulele.

Its quiet and small, but he does miss it.

_Pat. Pat pat._

He blinks, watching as more and more fall.

_Pat. Pat pat. Pat, pat, pat. Patter patter patter_.

It only gets louder, and as he watches it grow, he realizes it’s raining.

He blinks, glancing up at around, scanning the world for something out there, the source of the rain, yet it isn’t the clouds.

A soft giggle from the smaller-than-average lake below breaks him from his thoughts, and he stares down at a figure made of water resting in the lake, only its torso visible.

He breaks into a smile as he notices it. Placing the ukulele on its back upon the hill, he scoots closer to ledge, staring giddily down at the water below. He moves closer and closer, instinct telling him not to, yet he continues.

_A little bit older, running up the hill during a particularly rough game of tag. He watches behind him, running from the people who are it, who seem intent on chasing him.  
_

_He continues to run, a smile breaking out on his face as they turn, getting caught up with another kid in the class, proceeding to go and chase the closer one._

_He sighs, though his feet don’t stop moving. He watches the playing field, his smile falls to something smaller, closed though he continues to pant._

_He’s made it! He’s safe! He’s-_

_There’s nothing beneath him._

_He gives a screech as it falls, tumbling down off the edge. The world blurs around him, multiple shadows of brown, green, and a pale sky blue.  
_

_He tumbled for what seems hours, but it’s only a few seconds before he breaks the surface of the water with a boom that sends blunt, stinging pain up his back.  
_

_He falls, mouth still open, air wasted with his scream for help._

_He watches the air bubbles rise, and he blinks. Everything seems kind of numb._

_The surface of the water looks so pretty, though a little blurry as he’s beneath it. He stares up at it, mouth agape as he tries to process what’s happening, though everything seems nulled and quiet, including his own self._

_Though, as he falls deeper and deeper, he feels something like arms wrap around him, holding him secure. For a second, he worries this is one of those mermaids his village warned him about, and if they’re going to yank him deeper into the lake’s depths._

_But, no, instead he finds himself being propelled upwards by strong legs. He blinks, senses slowly returning as the surface gets closer and closer, speeding up at unimaginable rates._

_And then he’s out, breaking the top and gasping for air. Cold arms push him closer to the shore, and he stumbles out, collapsing at the rocky shore as he pants, already hearing the other villagers coming to rescue him._

_He glances back, noticing a child his age made out of the water of the lake blinking at him. It’s eyes glow, and it has long, ruffled hair. It tugs it’s bangs over one glowing teal eye, giving a small, slightly anxious smirk, before it dissipates into nothing._

_If it hadn’t been there, and the village people had taken as long as they did to get him from the shore, then he knows he would’ve been dead long before they ‘saved’ him._

Strong, cold hangs catch him as he falls towards the waters surface, and he giggles at it.

The water spirit smile sup at him, sticking out a tongue. Its hair is shorter now, a fluffy tuft falling over the side of its face while the other is shaved enough that it doesn’t fall anywhere, though it’s not completely shaved.

He smiles at it. “Hiya Virgil!” He greets, the rain smoothing out to be calmer, though still raining.

The spirit smiles back at him. “Thomas!” He greets back, snaking forth and plopping the small child beside the hill.

The human giggles, and the spirit continues to smile.

”How’ve you been?” The spirit asks. 

“Good. You?”

”Good.”

”Where are the others?”

As he speaks, the wind whistles by his ear, and he knows exactly who it is before they even speak.

”Well, you don’t have to ask _where_ I am!” It grins.

”Patton!” The two turn to stare at the wind spirit, who smiles wide at them. His sky blue eyes glint, and he opens his mouth to say something else, when another voice groans from above.

Nod boy has to ask who it is. “Good evening Logan!” Patton calls up, while Thomas calls him name eagerly and Virgil greets him with a simple “hey”.

The child is quite literally made of stars, dipping down from the bed above as far as he can go, which is quite a way, but still at least six feet above the others.

”It’s night, Patton” he informs, voice flat as he stares down with narrowed indigo eyes. 

Patton giggles. “Well, I couldn’t just say good night to you! That would mean you’d be going to bed.”

”I don’t sleep, Patton. I’m not human” Logan sighs.

Patton seems unaffected. “Well, you don’t have to be human to sleep!”

Logan opens his mouth to reply, but a bolt of lightning striking the grass beside the other cuts him off.

A fire surges forth, and human instinct tells the young human to run, but soon a kid his age bursts from the flame. “Never fear, for I am here!”

The responses are very different.

“Oh, my prince!”

“I wasn’t scared.”

“Oh, it’s you.”

“Roman!”

The fire spirit, Roman, sticks his tongue out at the water spirit, who sticks his tongue back. He turns to Patton and Thomas. “Well, at least _somebody_ appreciates me here!” He beams.

Patton giggles, and if he could Thomas suspects he would blush at the compliment.

Virgil splashes him with water.

Roman makes an offended noise, leaping back from the splash with a hiss. “You almost killed me, Surly Temple!”

Virgil rolls his eyes. “Oh, please, you’d annoy death too much to die, Doctor Do-The-Most.”

Roman makes an offended noise, and leaps, slamming his hand on Virgil’s shoulder for a moment before he leaps back.

Steam hisses off the both of them, and he shakes his hand.

”What was that for, Sir-Sing-A-Lot?!”

Roman grins. “You’re it!”

Virgil sputters, then grins.

” _Oh,_ it’s on.”

He lunges, and they all break into a run. Logan pulls back a bit, staring down at them from above.

He watches them play for a bit, before Patton drags him into the game by dashing up and tagging him with a bop on the nose.

”Cheating!” Logan calls out, though he dives down to as far as he can get to them, which is at least four feet and a half above them. 

They’re too caught up to notice the golden eyes that watch them as they play, though even if they did look, they’d never see the other spirit watching them.

And, as it watches, a single whisper escapes it, though it goes unheard.

” _I didn’t mean it..._ ” 


End file.
